Washing Alpaca Fleece
You can wash the fleece in either the sink, or the bathtub, depending on how much you need washed. I converted the method I read on Alpaca Bytes into using a bathtub and buckets instead of the washer machine.
Your going to need some basic materials:
- Bathtub
- Large Buckets (How many buckets depends on the quantity of fleece)
- Small/Medium/Large Mesh bags
- Regular Dish Soap (I use Dawn)
1. You want to start by cleaning out all of the big debris and junk out of the fleece
2. Do not pack, but fill the mesh bags of fleece semi-loosely.
3. Take some buckets and fill it up with the hottest water you can get in your bathtub.
4. Fill the buckets with about a squeeze or two of dish soap each and stir in lightly (dont make suds)
5. Using tongs, or a handle of some sort, slowly dip one of the bags into a bucket and repeat this a few times until you see the fleece soaked (You could possibly fit two bags in one bucket depending on the size of the bucket and bags, I use medium/large bags and can only fit one bag per bucket)
6. After putting all your bags into how every many buckets you are going ot use, set a timer or look at the clock and let the bags soak for 30 minutes.
7. After the 30 minutes carefully take the bags out (dont agitate the water) and set them into the bathtub and you can either pour the buckets down the bathtub drain or what I do is take them outside and dump them really quick.
8. Fill the buckets back up with just warm water and insert the bags carefully.
9. Keep repeating the "bucket process" until the water is clear in the bucket after 30 minutes of leaving the fleece in.